Extend the dream Concerning the story "A message on MLK Day: Dream big" (Jan 17): Those college students who freely gave their time are to be commended; their work should impress and inspire students at Roosevelt High School.

But it appears that a teachable moment may have been missed, or not fully exploited, even though inspirational signs were left on lockers. Where were the Roosevelt High School students? Inspiration also comes from personal investment.

Roosevelt students could have helped clean lockers or remove wads of gum, promoting more respect for their school. Discussing the value of education while helping college student volunteers clean Roosevelt High School would have been a good mentoring opportunity and might have had a longer lasting influence on young minds.

A combined volunteer effort should be considered for the next MLK Day.

BOB WRIGHT Southwest Portland

Drug war's toll The Monday column by Leonard Pitts Jr. and his report on the book "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander has many elements of truth. But the War on Drugs has broader and equally negative implications.

As the parent of a 19-year-old, white son who is in the legal system because of drug addiction, I believe the societal impact of the War on Drugs goes beyond race. Our country now has the highest incarceration rate in the world. Elements on both sides of the law are profiting from this. Didn't we learn this lesson from prohibition of alcohol?

If we took the profit away by legalizing drugs, we could focus instead on rehabilitation and eliminate many associated crimes. I am constantly dismayed that the War on Drugs receives so little debate in this country. Perhaps Alexander's book will help bring this issue more attention.

STEVE WILSON Southeast Portland Invest in infrastructure George Will's latest primer on the business of supporting all things business-related is typical of a conservative's rush to judgment ("Dredging delay deepens a hole," Jan. 16). He decries inaction, via delays related to environmental laws, in the preparation of one East Coast port (Charleston, S.C.) to accommodate supersized container ships that will be available in 2014. These ships are being constructed to "fit" a wider and deeper Panama Canal. They will likely be more efficient than smaller vessels in transporting the voluminous imports of consumer goods originating in Asia. These are now less efficiently transported to our East Coast by trucking, thus further bringing down costs (slightly) to the average consumer in this country.

Ironically, he mentions that the U.S, "has essentially no deep-sea shipping industry." This means that these great ships will be constructed off our shores. Thus, there will be no economic benefit for the U.S. Our high-tech/high-value exports to Asia will not likely benefit, as they are shipped by air or smaller sea vessels.

So, why not, Mr. Will, support jobs in this country, via upgrading and maintaining the roads that we need for interstate commerce, rather than use federal taxes ($120 million) to support more jobs overseas instead of elevating our infrastructures and industries? Give our good citizens something more than a meaningless mitigation of their diminishing economic sufficiency, and an economic assist to the business community of Charleston, in lieu of good jobs at home.

GERALD R. SCHWARZ Southwest Portland Occupy office Having read that the Occupy Portland movement has set up a headquarters in Southeast Portland, I can't help but smile a little. While I do support the spirit of public protest, and the raising of awareness about political topics not held up in the mainstream media, I felt from the beginning that the Occupy protests seemed unorganized and unfocused, and that they ultimately produced few results other than drawing ridicule and contempt from the general public.

Clients of mine who had participated in Civil Rights and anti-Vietnam War protests expressed puzzlement to me when asked for their opinions on the movement. But now there is a headquarters in which ideas can be fine-tuned and focused. Perhaps Occupy will become a force of positive change in our community.

But the cynical prankster that lives inside my brain cannot help but tease me with images of suit-and-tie-wearing young Republicans, or Levi-and-camouflage-cap-wearing Tea Party drones occupying their offices -- hanging out expecting to be fed and cleaned up after while basically just having a party; the whole time yelling right-wing slogans like "Corporations are people too" and "The 1 percent needs our support."

DOYLE STILES North Portland Government skeptic In his Jan. 13 letter, Scott Smith writes: "Until I see more efficiency than waste, honesty more than lies, action more than promises, sound moral judgment more than special interest, actual public service more than personal greed, I will continue to distrust the character of this bloated bureaucracy we call the U.S. government."

If he were more in love with the concept of democracy than "skeptical of the inherent good of government," he would have ended his sentence with "that the system of avaricious corporate capitalism has created out of the gift the Founders gave to us to perfect."